Leukemia is the most common type of cancer in children and adolescents under the age of 19 (Mullin, 2018); but, due to scientific research and treatment advancements, there is an approximately 80% chance of survival from leukemia (Castillo, 2008). Most children receive a diagnosis of leukemia between the ages of 2 and 7 years old. The peak age of…

Hopelessness has become an increasingly important construct in palliative care research, yet concerns exist regarding the utility of existing measures when applied to patients with a terminal illness. This article describes a series of studies focused on the exploration, development, and analysis of a measure of hopelessness specifically intended…

Women with breast cancer frequently report psychological distress throughout the treatment process. Patients have several empirically supported options for group psychotherapy while undergoing breast cancer treatment. However, few interventions have been developed that incorporate spirituality into psychotherapy, despite indications that patients…

It is rare to find the emotional component of self-directed learning discussed explicitly in the literature. This lack is particularly glaring given the interest sparked by recent brain research concerning the importance of emotion in all types of learning as well as by the dramatic increase in self-directed learning in the emotionally charged…

The death of the author's mother was not a surprise. Despite eighteen years of relative psychological and physical health while she lived with metastatic breast cancer, the last year of her life was a violent struggle against the disease that aggressively invaded her body. Her mother fought her death until the last moment. Within five days of…

As a result of advancements in medical expertise and technology, children and adolescents diagnosed with cancer now have opportunities to participate in many typical activities, including school. To some extent, school reintegration reflects positive adjustment to their illness. Nevertheless, children and adolescents with cancer may experience…

The authors prospectively tested the hypothesis that emotional expressivity would moderate the predictive relationship between patient neuroticism and spousal constraints among 120 individuals with cancer. The authors also examined whether patient gender further moderated the hypothesized relationships. After we controlled for Time 1 constraints,…

Anger has been shown to be an important factor in occupational maladjustment, family conflict, physical and sexual assault, criminal behavior, and substance abuse. It has also been linked with such adverse health outcomes as hypertension, heart disease, and cancer. Focusing on anger proneness, conceptualized as a relatively enduring propensity to…

This study examined the relationship of catastrophizing to fatigue in 80 women receiving chemotherapy (CT) or radiotherapy (RT) for treatment of early stage breast cancer. Findings revealed expected relationships between catastrophizing and fatigue among women receiving RT but not CT. Among RT patients, those high in catastrophizing reported…

The author provides some reflections based on her experiences as a member of Becky's treatment team (see Werth, this issue). She briefly highlights some of the areas that were most important in her work with Becky and others with life-limiting illnesses, including information-seeking, social support, maintaining normalcy, depression and…